Muddy Waters
by TheSyndra
Summary: On March 22nd Anna dies, and on April 5th Elsa brings her back. It was supposed to end with a routine soul release, except Anna doesn't seem to want to go back to the afterlife. [Au, ElsAnna, All of the warnings are at the top of the first chapter, this is fluffier than it sounds].
1. One

**Just a few things to get out of the way first** — this is an au where souls get lost/can't move on if they can't reconcile with or get over how they died (i.e., they can't fathom why it happened, feels like it was their fault and can't get past it, etc…). and magic is real, but not mainstream, so like, secret societies.

so basically elsa is a mortician with the ability to animate/reanimate things/individuals [sort of like a necromancer, except she doesn't need the rituals, it's more like a natural ability to reattach souls to bodies] and whenever she comes across/is called about a body still attached to a lost soul, she goes and pulls the soul back into the body and helps walk them through their death so that they can come to terms with it. she then releases the soul again and hopefully it's able to move on. so far she has a 100% success rate.

and then one night she comes across anna.

Also, elsa isn't necessarily the best at using her powers, especially when something goes wrong.

 **Warnings** : [Supernatural happenings, death, murder, depression, spooky-scary-[not quite a skeleton yet], living-dead/undead romance, ElsAnna, profanity, blood, bruising, treachery].

Enjoy.

* * *

It's cold as shit and storming outside, so it makes sense that on _this_ night Elsa gets a call from Maleficent about the first lost soul she's seen in almost two months. Elsa's been a part of magic societies for many years now, so it's not like she necessarily buys into movie logic, but supernatural things do tend to happen at a higher frequency during dreary, tumultuous weather. It's just an observation, not a judgement, but driving to funeral homes on dark, stormy nights isn't exactly her favorite thing to do.

Either way, it's been a slow week and she's finally got a case on her hands, so she cracks open the folder Mal left next to the body and scans over the important information.

 _NEWBURG, ANNA — Eighteen years old — College student — Suspected murder, multiple stab wounds, body found hidden. PARENTS: KAI NEWBURG, GERDA NEWBURG (Alive), Resident of Arendelle_

Mal must have flagged this case days ago because there's also numerous newspaper clippings in the folder.

 _UNIDENTIFIED BODY FOUND: Police are now investigating the discovery of an — BODY IDENTIFIED AS ANNA NEWBURG: Previously unidentified body is now identified as — ARENDELLE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE STUDENT FOUND DEAD: Anna Newburg, aged eighteen, was a student of — BOYFRIEND BEING QUESTIONED FOR THE MURDER: Boyfriend of Anna Newburg under investigation — BOYFRIEND NO LONGER UNDER INVESTIGATION: The boyfriend of Anna Newburg has alibi, so he is no longer under investigation. Who would commit such a heinous crime against beloved individual of our community?_

Elsa clicks her tongue against the top of her mouth and snaps the folder shut. She's seen this maybe a few dozen times before. The younger ones are mostly just afraid about the afterlife, and still a little terrified about the circumstances of their death. It comes with a lot of convincing them that everything is okay, and that the pain is over and they'll never have to feel it again. It's also about reassuring them that their loved ones will be okay and that they will make it through this.

The hardest part about these cases is when they request to talk to friends and parents, and Elsa has to explain to them the rules of the magic society, and the fact that she's only strong enough to keep them reanimated for a few hours at best. It's better if they don't reopen still healing wounds with their loved ones just to be immediately gone again.

Also, she could probably get arrested for what she's doing, but that part she doesn't like to mention that much. It's not like she signed up for this job to be a criminal, but she has a gift and it's just selfish not to use it for good.

Mal also left a handwritten note in the folder — recently dug this one up — _DON'T FREAK, I KNOW YOU SAID DON'T DO THAT — but with the investigation and funeral, was hard to get the body to myself long enough to schedule you in. There's definitely something up with this one, and I think she could use your help. Already transfused blood in and did all the gritty work, was a real frankenstein, but we're solid. Also, the police are hitting a wall with the investigation, and she's the only potential witness to her murder. Maybe you can help solve a case? (:_

Elsa sighs from the bottom of her still attached (and very agitated) soul, because she's not in the business of pulling people back from the dead — particularly murder victims — just to stir up shit about how they died. It's hard enough getting them to move on and accept the afterlife, let alone trying to force them to walk through the potentially worst and most terrifying moment of their life.

Mal definitely owes her for this one.

"Alright," she says, walking toward the body and removing the purple tarp covering it. She places her hands on either side of Anna's face, closes her eyes, and then she sings, " _Ohh, don't fail me now, put your arms around me and pull me out._ "

The singing isn't exactly necessary for reanimation, but it helps her focus her power and for some reason it really works with gently coaxing the soul back into the body.

She sings another line, " _I know I'm found, with your arms around me, oh save me now_ ," and then she opens her eyes to find the girl, er, Anna staring back her, which makes her stumble back so fast that she nearly trips. She knows her whole life and profession revolves around the dead, but still, "Holy shit that was fast."

Anna snaps straight up and sucks in a long breath, before pushing it out like she's just been punched in the chest, and then Elsa snaps to it and runs around to the front of her. Because, shit, yeah — she still has to coax Anna back into this life and circulation and breathing are a part of getting her used to being semi-animated again.

"It's alright," she says, "deep breath in, then let it out again. It gets easier each time."

Anna blinks again and Elsa can tell the soul isn't fully there yet. It's barely holding onto the body, so Elsa scrambles for the folder and opens it.

"Hey. Hi. Uh. Your name is Anna Newburg. You have red hair, blues eyes, freckles. You liked to volunteer, was part of that group that brings puppies to visit sick kids in hospitals. Uhhm, your parents were Kai and Gerda — "

" _Were_?" Anna croaks.

Elsa looks up from the folder, and Anna's definitely back now, and she's afraid. Elsa's completely underprepared because it typically takes about ten minutes of singing to channel enough power into bringing someone back, and this one came, well, ten minutes early.

"They uhhm, they're not dead, if that's what you're thinking. You're — please don't panic," she says when Anna gets a bit shifty.

"Where am I?" Anna asks, looking around and definitely, positively panicking, even though Elsa specifically said not to. "What is this place?"

"It's a funeral home," Elsa says slowly. "You're, well, uh. So, I have these sort of magical powers, if you will. And, basically, I just brought you back from the dead. I'm a necromancer. Do you understand that?"

Anna shakes her head, and Elsa gets it, sounds ridiculous even to her.

"Is this some sort of prank?" Anna asks. "Did you drug me? I wanna go home." She starts crying, or what Elsa would suspect to be crying if everything wasn't dried up in her body, on account of her being dead for a while now.

"No, that's not it, sorry. If I drugged you and this was a huge prank, that'd be the best case scenario. Unfortunately, that's not the case."

Anna still looks every bit confused, but Elsa can sense she's starting to realize something's off about herself. "So, I'm dead?"

"You are. You're dead." Elsa pulls all the newspaper clippings from the folder, and it's just now hitting her why Mal put so many in there and why she said " _there's definitely something up with this one_ ". Elsa imagined this was typical, but typically souls just don't want to accept their death; they aren't genuinely perplexed by the concept. Someone must have really fucked this girl over. Maybe Elsa _can_ help solve the case — that is, if she can get Anna to remember and then move on in a few hours.

No one said her job would be easy.

"Here, read these," she offers, handing the clippings over, or rather just the ones about the body being found and identified. It's probably best to leave all the talk of her boyfriend and the murder investigation out of it now. "It should help you come to terms with the situation. Sorry about all this, but once we get past the shock stage, I want you to know I'm really trying to help."

Anna takes them, reads through a couple of them, then starts rubbing the paper between her fingers like she's testing if it's real. After a few minutes she places them on her lap and looks up determined. "Alright, so I'm dead then. But you brought me back? For good?"

Elsa clears her throat and quickly rubs her bangs back out of her eyes. She's a professional, and this is her area of expertise. She should stop acting like an inexperienced idiot.

"Not exactly — see the way it works is that I bring back souls that haven't moved on yet, and I help you accept that you're dead. Then I send you back so you can finally move on and stop lingering." Anna blinks like she's not convinced, so Elsa adds. "Plus, I'm not strong enough to keep you here for more than a couple hours. Sometimes when people are snatched from the world too fast they have a hard time leaving. This is like, me giving you some hours to warm up to leaving."

"I suppose that helps," Anna whispers.

Elsa smiles and softly claps her hands together. "That's the spirit, except — okay, this one's a little different."

"How so?"

"We're — the police and your family and stuff — aren't quite sure how you died."

Anna looks like she's not one-hundred percent convinced with everything that's going on, but she's rolling with it anyway. "So you don't know my cause of death? I thought there was like technology and stuff for that."

"Oh, we know the cause, just not… the _cause_."

Anna blinks a few times, then her eyes widen. "Are you saying like, who killed me?"

That is what Elsa's trying to say, but she can already tell this isn't the best way to go about it since Anna's wringing her hands together. Elsa's gotten good at picking out nervous ticks over the years, and keeping a soul comfortable is absolutely the number one priority in successfully coaxing them into the afterlife. Elsa's never failed at it, and she doesn't plan on tonight being her first time.

"Would you like some tea," she asks, instead, switching up the subjects. "It helps with the coming back part, and if you drink it slowly it won't make you feel sick."

Anna swings her legs over the table and drops down, then she stretches out and cracks her back in a way that doesn't sound totally healthy. Elsa's stuck staring because in all her years of reanimation, no ones ever just hopped off the table and started exploring like it's the easiest thing in the world.

"Sounds good to me," Anna says, wandering through the space poking through Maleficent's supplies. "You have a change of clothes too? The funeral fit isn't doing it for me."

"Uh, no, but you can take my cardigan if it helps?"

"Sure thing." Anna perks up and snaps back around toward Elsa. "This isn't weird or anything for you? Like, talking to the dead?"

Elsa laughs. "I have a harder time with the living, to be honest."

"Yeah, they won't be gone in a couple hours, I suppose."

Anna goes back to exploring and Elsa tries to reel in the situation by making a game-plan in her head while preparing the tea. This situation is a little too unordinary for her tastes. Just because she talks to the dead, doesn't mean she doesn't prefer things to be neat and routine. Anna shouldn't have come awake that fast, and she probably shouldn't be walking around, and considering the scope that Elsa wants to cover tonight, they probably shouldn't be wasting time on refreshments.

But, there's also the fact that Elsa can't stand to see Anna sad anymore. It's something about her eyes, it's just too — eh, she can't describe it.

"Alright, Anna, teas ready," Elsa says, walking over to the prep table Anna's sitting on. "Remember, sip it slowly, and not just because it's hot. Mal had to sew you back together, so we don't know how properly you're functioning in there."

Anna lifts her shirt before Elsa can object, and theres multiple, clearly visible stab wounds, along with the autopsy stitching and bruising probably from the night she died and… it doesn't exactly look pretty.

Anna just drops her shirt back down though, pale as a ghost, and says, "The tea sounds nice right about now."

"I know it seems shitty being killed, and then pulled back, but — do you seriously not remember dying?"

Anna shrugs. "People don't normally forget?"

Elsa places the cups next to Anna, and then hops on the prepping table next to her, picking a cup up for herself and pushing the other toward Anna. "People are sometimes unclear about it, but it's mostly because they don't want to accept the way they died. But once you walk them through it they start to see why it makes sense."

Anna takes a sip, slowly, and Elsa notes she's good with instructions. "So what does it mean if I can't remember?"

"It means the way you died makes absolutely no sense to you. Like someone you really…" Elsa trails off; it's too soon to talk about loved ones betraying you, but she supposes she'll have to get around to it at some point. "Maybe we should start with things you do remember, yeah? Your time of death is around 10pm on March 22nd, and your body was found late March 23rd. Uh, today is April 5th. What's the last date you remember?"

Anna scrunches up her nose like she has to think about it, and this is the first time Elsa gets a good, close look at her under the light. She's sort of cute, lots of freckles and eyes that are too big for her face. It must have taken a real monster to do what they did to her.

"I think maybe the 18th?" Anna says. "I had a test, and I felt good about it. After coming out. I studied really hard for it and stuff."

"Alright, that's good," Elsa says, swirling her tea. "Do you remember any other specifics? Like which subject it was?"

"Yeah, was physics, I believe."

"Fun stuff."

Anna giggles. "If you say so. I bet they'd have a field day knowing about other, like, soul realms and stuff and the physics of that."

Elsa smiles because Anna's smile is contagious. "Yeah but we have to keep it our secret," she says, flicking Anna's nose. "Rules and stuff, remember?"

"What happens if you break the rules? Do they revoke your license?"

"They can in certain cases, but I'm sort of a special exception."

Anna sits up straighter, like she's just uncovered the goldmine of secrets. "How are you special?"

Elsa swings her legs back and forth, sort of giddy because souls usually aren't this interested in her line of work, more focused on the life they left and them being dead. "Well, there's different ways to have a gift… magically, that is. You can learn it, like potions and spells and stuff, with training. You can be cursed with it, like an angry spirit portals into you and now you're stuck with being a medium, or you can be born with it — like me. Not many people are born with it."

Anna nods, like this makes just as much since as physics does. "So, you said you go around and help souls accept they're dead? Kind of like a therapist for dead people, yeah?"

Elsa smiles, she likes that title. "Yeah, it's sort of like that."

"That's actually really sweet of you. I used to think people who tried to talk to the dead were creepy, but… you don't really seem creepy right now. Just friendly."

Anna looks down in her cup and sighs, and Elsa scoots closer and puts an arm around her. "Did you know that souls like to feel warm? It makes them happy," she says, gently rubbing Anna's arm. "Does this help?"

Anna looks up and nods, then she unexpectedly leans her head against Elsa's cheek. "I'm not ready to go back yet. I'm scared."

"Hey, we still have a few hours," Elsa says, putting her cup down so she can scoot closer and pull Anna into a full hug. Sometimes souls really, really need to feel cared for, and for some reason Elsa feels especially vested in this one. "We don't have to think about it at this exact moment."

"You said no one knows how I died, right? Were there no witnesses?"

"You're the only one," Elsa whispers, wiping Anna's hair behind her ear. There's a bruise on her neck and it makes Elsa feel a little sad inside. "No one else was there, except your killer."

Anna scratches at Elsa's jeans, then inspects her abnormally pale fingers. "So, I'm the only way to figure it out, except I don't remember anything? Do you have a plan for helping me remember?"

"Do you want to remember?"

"I think so."

"You don't have to," Elsa says, before she can really think it through. "I mean, I brought you here for you. Finding out who your killer was is really just business for the living, you know? Your only job is to be comfortable enough with going back in a few hours. If figuring out your killer helps with that, we can do that, but if it doesn't, we don't have to."

Anna nods and pulls away from Elsa to take a sip of her tea, then she quickly cuddles up to her again. "Okay, I think we can try, and like, if it doesn't help we can stop and do something else."

"Okay," Elsa says, squeezing her arms tighter, and then reflexively loosening up because she doesn't want to hurt Anna anymore than she has been. "Is there anyone that would want to hurt you?"

"No, not at all," Anna says, a little louder than normal. "I was nice to everyone, honest. If anyone needed anything I was always there to help them. It's just how my parents raised me." She stops talking and it feels like her body goes still. Elsa has to lean over and check if she's still there, because she was sure they had a few more hours.

Then Anna says, "I keep forgetting that I'm dead. My parents must feel awful. You sure I can't talk to them?"

"It's the rules, Anna. I'm sorry."

Anna nods and sniffs, actually sniffs. Her functioning must be slowly coming back. "Yeah, I get it. You're just — I'm sorry. I don't think anyone wanted to hurt me."

"Okay. Can you remember anything else from the time around your death? Or after you took that test?"

Anna swallows and thumbs the cup in her hand. "I remember Kristoff," she says quietly. "He was… he was being distant, and — I don't want to talk about this anymore."

 _Kristoff,_ Elsa notes in her head. That must be the boyfriend. The newspapers never mentioned the name, but if they never get around to figuring it out tonight, she'll at least have a place to follow up.

"That's fine, Anna. I told you tonight is about you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

"It's just that I don't really know you," Anna continues. "And some things still feel, like, personal. Even if I'm dead."

"No, no, I totally get it," Elsa says. "I have crosswords in my bag, if you wanna do one together. Sometimes souls just want to feel normal one last time, and then when it's time to go things are easier for them."

"That sounds like a great idea," Anna says, and she smiles. Elsa really likes making her smile. She might actually miss this one.

xx

After two hours of crosswords and puzzles and Elsa making a list of every food restaurant she should try if she's ever around Arendelle University, Elsa does something she's never done before and she takes out a piece of paper. It's probably going to get her in trouble with the magic society, but breaking the rules for Anna doesn't feel like it's so bad.

"Here," she says, handing Anna the paper. "I think, maybe, it'd be cool if you wrote your parents a letter. Maybe like, mention some stuff only you would know and say what you want to tell them or something. I can try to mail it to them, make sure they get it."

"You think that's best?" Anna asks, tentatively taking the paper. "Is that okay with the rules?"

"I'd do it if that's what you want me to do," Elsa assures. "I told you, I really want to help you move on. You deserve it."

Anna stares at the paper for a few seconds and then she shakes her head. "I think the rules are right about contact and stuff. But, uhhm, maybe I can write a letter and like, you can keep it. Since, you know, you're sort of my only friend now and the only person that knows I came back for a bit. I think I'd feel better knowing that someone was around and can still read my final words and all the stuff I have to say. If that's okay?"

Elsa nods and then she hops off the table to give Anna some privacy. It's always her final step of helping a soul, she gives them some time with themselves while they're still semi-alive. The easy part is convincing them as an outside person, but in order for everything to work they have to be able to convince themselves as well.

She decides to take this time to give Mal a call, let her know they never made it to the murder stuff.

"Hey," she says to Mal's voicemail, "Yeah, just wanted to call and say I think it's going well with the soul. I think she's accepted everything and stuff. We didn't really figure out who killed her since she didn't quite remember she died, but she's pretty convinced of it now and she's writing out her last words." Elsa clears her throat and pauses longer than she should on a voicemail. "This one was really rough, Mal. It sort of reminds me why I got into this in the first place. Thanks for — thanks for everything. Love you."

Elsa lingers for a few more minutes to give Anna time, but she can't sit around that long because she still has to go through the process of release. If she waits too long, Anna's soul will just leave the body without warning, and that's the whole reason they're here in the first place.

Fortunately, Anna's folding up the paper when Elsa walks back into the room. "Got everything all wrapped up?"

"Yup, think I got it all out. Can you not… not read it until I'm gone?"

"Sure thing," Elsa says, awkwardly clapping her hands together. "So, yeah, I think it's time."

Anna climbs from the table, and before Elsa can process much she's running and grabbing Elsa into a hug. "Thanks for being a really great friend."

"It's what I'm here for, okay?" Elsa says, wrapping her own arms around Anna. She's seriously going to miss this one. "So like I said, I'm going to lay you down, and I want you to think peaceful thoughts. It's going to feel like you're going to sleep, and then you're going to be off."

"Can you do me a favor?" Anna asks, pulling back to look Elsa in the eyes. "Can you stay here until I go to sleep, and then… then when I'm sleep can you say you love me? I just… I think it'll make it better going in. I just need someone to tell me one last time."

"That's fine, Anna. I can do that."

xx

Elsa wakes up the next morning to sixteen missed calls from Mal and one text that says:

 _HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Els, get here. Get here now. This is not cool._

It takes her five minutes to throw on clothes, since she's used to emergencies, and fifteen minutes to get to the funeral home. As soon as she makes it to the basement she realizes the problem, which is mostly the fact that Anna's standing in the corner, eyes wide, with her arms wrapped around herself.

"How's she still alive?" Mal blurts.

"I have no idea," Elsa says to her, eyes still focused on Anna. "Hey, buddy. You okay? You didn't go back?"

"I tried to, like you said," Anna says, like she's afraid she's done something wrong. "I closed my eyes and thought peaceful thoughts, went to sleep. When I woke up I was still here. I promise. I tried."

"Fuck," Elsa whispers, running her hands through her hair and pacing in a circle. "Fuck. I don't know how this happened."

"Did you find out who killed her?" Mal asks.

"We just figured it was best if we didn't. She didn't even remember her own death, and then it was too hard for her to talk about it. I left you a voicemail," Elsa says, flapping her hand through the air.

"No, no, no, no, no," Mal mumbles, like she's seen a ghost - or, well. "You can't do that, you have to figure it out. She can't go back unless you figure it out, because now it's like she has unfinished business."

"But I thought I wasn't strong enough to keep them here that long."

"A. I already told you that you're a lot stronger than you think, and B. you're not keeping her here at this point; she's keeping herself here."

Elsa turns to Mal and lifts her arms in the air in exasperation. "Why would you send me this if you _knew_ I had to figure it out. I figured it was just a suggestion."

"I thought you knew that."

"Born with it!" Elsa yells. "I didn't have to do all the schooling, so when something specific like that, that you learn in school is very, very relevant, you should maybe let me know."

Elsa becomes acutely, suddenly aware at that moment that Anna is still in the room. "Not that I didn't want to help you," she clarifies. "It's just that when sending you back becomes conditional on putting you through intense memory retrieval processes, the ethicality of it becomes a bit more questionable."

"I get it," Anna nods, finally coming from the corner and closer to the conversation.

Mal shuffles her hand around in her pocket and pulls out a sucker, then she walks over and hands it to Anna. "Here, suck on this. It'll make you feel better. Has lots of special herbs, good for the dead, but not really dead, I suppose."

She walks back to Elsa and whispers, "I'm telling you, it was definitely the boyfriend. We just need to get her to put all the pieces together, then bam — done, send her back."

Elsa nods; that sounds like a solid plan, but, "They said he had an alibi after they questioned him during the investigation."

"That doesn't mean anything," Mal says. "Besides, you don't have a better suggestion and if the magic society figures out we're harboring a soul, that's like a serious offense. You keep her under control and I'll investigate — "

"But Hans wouldn't hurt me," Anna cuts in unexpectedly. When they look over to her she's just standing there like her world is crashing down. Her sucker's dropped on the floor and her mouth's hanging open. "No. He's in love with me. I'm sure of it."

"Who's Hans?" Elsa asks. At least that's a new name to add to the list.

Anna looks confused for a second, then she tilts her head. "My boyfriend."

 _Oh_. Elsa turns and looks off at the wall because now she's just wondering who the fuck is Kristoff? The newspapers never mentioned any other suspects.


	2. Two

**A/N:** this really shouldn't be that long, probably just a few more chapters of it left. I'll try to get them out as fast as possible while I have a bit of free time.

thanks for the reviews and whatnot.

 **Same warnings as before apply, more or less.**

* * *

Once Anna catches on that they fully intend on investigating her old boyfriend, she starts to take a turn for the worse. She still seems physically fine, Mal checks and rechecks her circulation like seven different times, but Elsa can tell she's not feeling okay emotionally. She knows from experience that it's hard taking in the fact that a loved one might have murdered you, so they definitely should have handled that news a bit more delicately, but what's done is done and it's Elsa's job to do damage control.

After all, she's the therapist to the dead, so it should be right up her alley.

"It doesn't _necessarily_ have to be a loved one," Elsa starts with, taking a seat next to Anna on the upstairs couch.

It's almost a flat-out lie, since this level of forgetting isn't usually associated with a random or stranger murder, but it would be heartless to actually point that out to Anna. She's been staring at the same spot on the wall for ages, and they need her cooperation if they have any hope of releasing her soul without getting the magic council involved. Elsa would really be in deep shit if it came to that, and if it's at all possible she'd like to avoid it.

"We weren't trying to upset you," she tries, because that's the legitimate truth. She never wants to upset souls, one of the highest offenses in her book. "It's just what we're accustomed to assuming when there's a case like yours. We've also — I've never encountered this situation before, where a soul sticks around, so I wasn't exactly tactful."

"I didn't mean it," Anna whispers, and it's the first words she's spoken since their interaction in the downstairs prep room. Elsa actually relaxes a little; it's a relief that Anna's warming up to talking again. Silence is never a good sign when someone gets reanimated. "I really tried to release. I really, really tried to. I was so scared."

"It's not your fault," Elsa says, taking one of Anna's hands to rub between her own to help the blood flow. Her hand is still cold and pale, but the skin is at least looking better than it did last night. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I brought you back and stirred up things about your murder, and then I got you stuck here. We're going to figure it out, though. Together. I promise."

Anna leans in, and Elsa automatically slips her arm around her. She nuzzles into the same spot she did last night against Elsa's cheek, and then she pulls her knees up to her chest.

"What if it all goes wrong? What's going to happen to me?"

"Nothing is going to go wrong," Elsa assures her. "We have the best team of people on our side and we're gonna figure everything out. We're also going to keep you safe and healthy in the process."

"You sure?" Anna asks, rubbing her forehead against Elsa's cheek and scooting in closer likes she's trying to physically merge their bodies together. "You'd tell me that, yeah? If you weren't sure?"

"Sure thing, baby," Elsa says, twisting to kiss her forehead. "But I promise everything's going to be alright."

"Why are you protecting me if I'm just going to die again?"

Elsa hugs her even tighter, doesn't know what it is about this one, but she feels an extra special need to protect her. "It's because the body is really important for the soul when you're back in the living realm. It's like your vessel, so you need to protect it. The worse shape the body is in, the worse shape the soul is in."

"I guess… It's fine if you investigate Hans," Anna says after a second. "But I'm not sure how I'd handle the news if… well, I — "

"Hey, hey," Elsa says, shifting so she can turn and grab Anna firmly by the arms and look her in the eyes. "We're not going to talk about any of that right now, okay? First we need to let your mind rest, and then get you healthy again. Memory retrieval is both physically and emotionally demanding, and in most cases…"

She trails off, not sure if she wants to go into repression and the fact that some of Anna's depression might be coming from the fact that she's withering from the inside. Most likely part of her definitely knows she was betrayed, but she just can't admit it to herself.

"In most cases we can get through it if we take the proper precautions," she decides to say. "And we're going to take extra careful super special proper precautions for you, okay?"

"Okay," Anna says, smiling a little and nudging Elsa's hand to suggest she wants to cuddle again. "I trust you."

xx

Mal's the only one between them that is semi-experienced with extended reanimation, but she has more important duties to complete like scrying and furthering their investigation, so Elsa's tasked with the full-time job of soul-sitting. Before Mal's off, though, she bundles Anna up in two quilts, the top one decorated with protection and healing runes, and then she loads her in the back of the car and drives both Elsa and Anna to her apartment. She has plenty of supplies there, so it's a better setting, anyway, for making sure they have everything they'll need.

Once they get Anna in the house, they set her up on the couch with her quilts and Mal locates an old calming charm bracelet she has lying around. She doesn't have any other charms, so she suggests Elsa call in reinforcements — mainly Tiana — to see which charms they're going to need.

Elsa definitely agrees she needs backup, so she contacts Tiana right away and updates her voicemail on the situation, which gets her back an email response half an hour later —

 _Hi Els,_

 _I'm out of the city right now, but she'll need a protection charm, a binding charm (to keep her from floating x.x), and maybe a love? charm thrown in there as well. Sounds like the poor baby is having a hard time, so try to keep her warm + comforted. If she looks sad just give her lots of cuddles. She'll really like that. I'll send you recipes for teas and broths to feed her, since she'll probs have bathroom trouble the next few days and we don't want to clog her up. Remember she needs sleep and rest and has to pee and whatnot BECAUSE SHE IS NOT A ZOMBIE okay? try to keep her body moisturized while her circulation is coming back, can't let her be too dry._

 _Also, if you **need** her to remember and/or if she's really having bathroom troubles, I suggest you shoot Yzma an email. She's better with the potions than I am. I could ask her for you if you need me to, make sure she doesn't send you a wonky potion bc she's sort of known for getting carried away. be careful with the remembering potions, though, because everything coming back too quickly could be particularly upsetting and violent and the soul might float out abruptly, so. it's really your call._

 _I'm assuming Mal will be scrying for you — i'd suggest getting a list of people she's talked to a lot recently and not just big ones. (If you really, super need it, Snow has access to her Step-Mom's magical mirror, but that is REALLY, REALLY dark magic, so I'd be very cautious of it.)_

 _I'll try to get to you as soon as possible (tomorrow afternoon at the latest, promise) and i can do a more thorough exam of her then, like breathing & circulation. if she starts feeling especially sick before i get there please call me!_

 _if you need anything else before tomorrow, just let me know!_

 _xoxo,_

 _Tiana_

 _P.S. it's been a while sense I've seen a multi-day reanimation! so proud of you and your powers ❤️_ _if you get through this the council will def be impressed! at this point it's just a matter of protecting her, keeping the body alive, and keeping the soul attached to the body until you've sorted everything out. don't worry, she's in good hands with us._

Tiana sends loads of recipes attached with it, and Elsa ends up going with the one for healing, love, friendship, and improved memory, which includes adding rosemary, parsley, dried apple, roses, and chervil to the broth. She adds in some anise as well for good dreams, just in case, and a little lavender for any anxiety Anna may be feeling.

She puts more lavender in the tea — along with orange peel, cinnamon and ginger — which should really cover all her bases at this point, and keep Anna healthy and safe long enough to make it to her visit with Tiana tomorrow.

She considers carving some runes in a candle and burning it, because she thinks it helps with something, but then again that's really not her area and she's not exactly sure what it's used for. So she sits down on the table in front of the couch instead, bringing the broth and tea with her, and looks at Anna.

Anna looks up almost immediately, from fiddling with the calming charm on her wrist. "What is it?"

"Nothing, just. I can answer any questions if you're curious about it."

Anna drops her wrist and shrugs like there's nothing to know. "Mal said its for calming, right? I think it's really helping out. I feel sort of normal again."

"Good," Elsa says, smiling larger than she needs to and lingering a little too long on Anna's eyes. "I mean, uh, that's great news. I brought you food and tea. Tiana says it should help make you feel better, very healing and whatnot. She sent me tons of helpful recipes."

"Who's Tiana?"

"She's like a specialist in brewing and cooking up stuff." Elsa hovers her face over the tea to check its temperature before handing it off to Anna so she can hold the cup in her hands and keep them warm. "She's also sort of a specialist when it comes to circulation and things involved with reanimated individuals. She's coming in tomorrow to give you a look over."

Elsa picks up the bowl of broth, scoops some onto the spoon, and holds it up for Anna to eat. Anna leans forward and sips it off the spoon, then leans back and hums approvingly.

"Is this one of the recipes she sent?"

"Yeah," Elsa says, "she's the best."

"Are any of your friends the worst?" Anna laughs, adjusting her body so she can cross her legs beneath her. "Seems like you've managed to find all the coolest people."

"Depends on what you mean," Elsa says. "Like, when it comes to magic, I'd say we're top-notch, but otherwise we can all be a little bit of a misfit, you know? Sometimes other people just don't get us."

Anna tilts her head. "Misfit how? Outside the magic society?"

Elsa nods. "We've all got our stories, yeah."

"So what are yours?"

Elsa laughs and reaches over to run her hand along Anna's calf. The skins a bit dry, which reminds her she needs to keep Anna moisturized. "You're a bit of a curious one, yeah?"

"I don't… didn't have too many friends," she says, sipping her tea. "It's kind of nice just hanging out."

"You and Hans never just hung out?" Elsa asks curiously.

Anna looks down into her tea and shrugs. "I want to hear about your misfit stories, you promised no Hans stuff, remember?"

"Alright, alright," Elsa says. They really shouldn't be pushing Anna this early, anyway. She gets up and walks over to get some moisturizer from one of Mal's cabinets, and then walks back to sit on the table again. "I have to put some of this on you, alright? Have to keep your skin moisturized while you're booting your system back up."

"That sounds fine, I think."

Elsa grabs Anna's foot and pulls it into her lap, then she starts spreading the moisturizer over her leg. It still feels a bit too cold, but she read somewhere that the legs are the last place for the circulation to really kick back in. They can just keep Anna bundled up for now.

"Stories," Anna reminds her, tapping the cup of tea against her lip. "It'd make me feel better. Honest."

"Really?" Elsa asks, smiling and folding Anna's leg in to grab the other. "I guess if it's in the name of healing."

Anna brightens up at that, and taps her fingers on the sides of the mug. "It is, it is. So spill it."

Elsa shakes her head, laughing, and folds in Anna's other leg after a minute. "So, we had a class pet back in elementary school," she says, "and one day it died and…"

Anna gasps. "You brought the class pet back to life in front of your class?"

"It's as dramatic as it sounds," Elsa says, "It was proper dead, and I touched it. Popped back to life and fell dead again a couple minutes later. Made parents sort of worried, so my Papa had to home-school me. Word seems to travel fast when there's a little girl bringing dead things back to life."

"I guess you'd seem a lot weirder if I wasn't dead or, like, formerly dead."

Elsa climbs onto the couch and sneaks an arms around Anna underneath the quilts. It's probably seventy-five percent because she wants to keep Anna warm, and twenty-five percent because she genuinely likes being snuggled up to Anna. But no one has to mention the last bit.

"I think the dead are generally easier to talk to. Even the formerly dead." Elsa scratches at Anna's shorts before placing her palm on her thigh. Anna just leans into it. "It's something about crossing into a new realm that makes you like, less judgmental about everything."

"I mean, we're also dead, so what we have to say doesn't matter," Anna says, offering her tea to Elsa.

Elsa shakes her head, and lifts it to Anna's lips. "It matters the most, I'd say. It's why I do this whole thing in the first place. Lots of times with, uh, souls in your situation, it's like no one ever gave you a chance to properly um — "

"Die?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's the best way to put it."

Anna clutches at her cup tighter and says, softly, "Is it almost like maybe we weren't meant to die?"

That _is_ one way to put it but, generally speaking, everyone is meant to die. Elsa has a feeling, though, that Anna's trying to get at something else with the question. Maybe she's remembering something. "What makes you say it like that?"

"No reason," Anna says quickly, shaking her head and reaching one hand down to massage her feet. "I think I've had enough talking for the night, should maybe try sleeping again?"

"That sounds alright with me."

xx

The main issue with Anna sticking around is that souls aren't supposed to be in this realm for long after death; it can potentially cause all sorts of problems for them and make everything out of whack, and basically Elsa royally fucked up by dragging an innocent soul here and getting it trapped in unfinished business.

She wasn't exactly prepared for this task, because soul upkeep isn't her area of expertise (and is technically banned in 6 magic districts due to the frequent destruction of innocent souls and/or high risk of advanced banishment rituals becoming necessary) but she's determined to do this right.

"How long has she been here now?" Tiana asks, as she unloads her supplies from her bag. "Could you lean forward sweetie," she says to Anna, and then she clips a piece of Anna's hair with scissors and twists it with string before sliding four charms onto it and fastening it around Anna's wrist. "This'll keep you from floating."

"It's been a little over thirty-six hours," Elsa says. "Not sure how long we can keep her here, but I want to make sure she stays intact. Is floating really an issue?"

"What's floating?" Anna chimes in.

Tiana smiles big at her and brushes her thumb across her cheek. "Floating is when you drift from your assigned body into other bodies, or mediums. The more you float, the more you forget who you really are. And that's bad for you."

"Are you sure this is good enough to hold me in?" Anna asks, holding up her arm. "What happens if I forget who I am?"

"You don't worry about anything, okay Sweetpea? We're going to make sure you're alright. Can you tell me the last time you ate something?"

"Uh, I had the tea and the little bit of broth that Elsa gave me last night," Anna says, as Tiana grabs her hands and starts squeezing her fingers. She then puts her hand over Anna's forehead for a few seconds before putting her ear to her chest. "And there's the tea she gave me the night I came back. I had some water as well, when we first got to the house. My mouth felt really dry."

"And how do you feel now?" Tiana asks, pulling away and shuffling through her bag again.

"Sort of funny, like, light-headed? And uhhm, weak, I guess. Is that bad?"

"Oh, no. It's not bad," Tiana says. "You're just hungry again, is all, and still adjusting. I'm going to fix you up some tea that should make you feel better. Your fingers are warming up so your circulation seems fine. Whoever sewed you back together did a nice job. Your breathing is also good. I'm not sure how the um… the plumbing is doing, so we'll hold off on giving you solids."

"The plumbing? Like using the bathroom?" Tiana nods. "Do I actually still use the restroom?"

"You should start regaining normal functioning in the next few days," Tiana says. "If not, we'll get you a potion to help get you going."

Anna giggles unexpectedly into her hand. "You mean like a laxative?"

"Yeah, a special laxative," Tiana laughs. "I imagine it's going to be a little more powerful than what you're used to."

"That doesn't sound so fun."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to it," Tiana says affectionately. "It's normal if you don't go for the first few days. So we'll monitor you closely, but I'm positive everything should be in working order."

She stands from the table, gathering an assortment of containers in her arms from her bag, then she tilts her head. "You mind helping me out in the kitchen, Elsa?" When they're together by the stove, Tiana whispers, "She's in bad shape, but I think we can bring her around."

"We really didn't sew her back together to keep her intact, not even sure where Mal got the blood for the transfusion."

Tiana shakes her head, sorting through the ingredients she brought back with her to fix up some tea. "It's not that. Physically, she's looks fine. Great, even. It's just, the body can only do so much, you know? She's not okay mentally. Something's really tearing her apart and she doesn't know how to deal with it. I've never seen it so bad."

Elsa swallows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean everything looks in order, but she's not on time. She should be doing a lot better than she's doing now, which means it's not a technical issue, it's a soul issue. I threw in a fourth charm for healing, but I don't know how long we can keep her safe."

"I've never done this before, taken care of a soul this long," Elsa says. "I don't know what to do, I don't want to fail. And not just because of the council. I don't want to fail Anna."

"The poor baby just needs to figure out why she died," Tiana comforts, grabbing her shoulder, "and after that she'll be off."

"What if she doesn't leave?"

"Then the magic council will be forced to banish her. She's got no hold on this world anymore. She has to go. But I'm positive you'll figure it out, Els. You always do." She smiles and grabs the tea to take over to Anna. "Tell me if it's good," she says to Anna.

"Delicious," Anna says, wrapping her fingers tighter around the mug. She pulls her feet beneath her under the quilt and Elsa can't help noticing they're still too pale. "So how am I going to go? Do I just drop dead after you've built my body back up? Can I die again before we figure out the whole murder thing? Is that possible?"

It's all very possible, but Elsa shakes her head anyway. "No, you're staying here with us until you're good and ready to go alright? Remember, that's the whole reason you're here in the first place, and I've never failed a soul before."

Tiana nods along with her. "Yeah, Elsa's one of the best, okay? You're in great hands. I'll come back to see you in a day or two, I promise." She kneels to put her things back in her bag and Elsa follows her as she makes her way to the door. "Did she actually get any rest last night?"

"Not much," Elsa says. "I stayed on the chair across from the couch to monitor her, but I think she's sort of afraid to go to sleep."

"You should try sleeping with her," Tiana suggests, "if you don't mind that. It's comforting, and the warmth will do her some good. Human contact can sometimes help restore a soul faster. Keep giving her cuddles and massages, too. Really convince her it's safe to come back and remember."

Elsa nods. "I can do that. I think I can handle it."

"Good then," Tiana says, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Tell Mal it's definitely someone close to her. Good luck with everything. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Once Tiana's gone, Elsa walks back over to Anna.

"Enjoying the tea?" she asks.

"It's almost as good as yours," Anna says, winking. "So how bad is it really? That was too much whispering for everything to be going great."

"It's not bad at all," Elsa says, sitting on the couch next to Anna and hugging her. "We're mostly just whispering because this is my first time, but T said everything is going amazingly so you don't have to worry at all, okay? We're going to figure out who killed you, and then I'll personally deal with them myself."

"I'm not upset at them," Anna says after a long pause. "I mean, I'm really sad that I died and hurt and… a little confused. But I'm not upset with my killer. I _am_ upset, though, just can't attach that hurt to the person that killed me."

"Can you tell me about Kristoff?" Elsa tries. "You said he was being distant. Is he your friend? The guy you were cheating on Hans with?"

"No," Anna snaps, "I wouldn't do that."

"I'm not judging you," Elsa says quickly, "I've seen all sorts of things. You just really have to be open with me if you want me to help you."

"I wasn't cheating with Kristoff," Anna says slowly. "He was my best friend. He just… I think he liked me, you know? He kept saying Hans gave him this weird vibe, but I thought he was just jealous or something. But — " Anna blinks, and then a second later there are tears.

She presses her face into Elsa's shirt and says, muffled, "I didn't believe him about Hans and now I'm dead and you think Hans killed me."

Elsa wraps her arms around Anna tighter and places kisses all over the top of her head. "But it doesn't make sense, right? We can't say Hans killed you for sure, until it makes sense to you. It won't make sense to me, until it makes sense to you, alright? _Alright_?"

Anna nods, but she doesn't stop crying. In fact, it takes her a few hours to finally calm down, so Elsa decides there should be no more talking about her death. It can wait.

xx

Anna doesn't actually sleep until after her third day. Elsa's been taking Tiana's advice and cuddling more, but Anna crashes hard in the middle of the day on the living room floor. Elsa's coming back from the kitchen with another cup of tea when she finds her passed out. So she just set the tea on the table and takes her own nap on the couch.

When she wakes up Anna's walking about easier than ever and she's going through Maleficent's shelf of scrolls and books. "Hey," Elsa says surprised.

"Sorry I've been a wreck," Anna blurts. "I know I'm only here so I can figure everything out and then release properly, but whenever I try to think about it I only hit a block of sadness."

"It's alright," Elsa says, "I'm probably just forcing it too much. We should just let you rest up until Mal's back, honestly."

"Okay, but I'm still really sorry, Els. I - this is already hard and I'm just making it shittier for you."

"You know," Elsa says, deciding on the truth for once. "It's most likely that, whatever the circumstances, this involved someone close to you. Whenever a soul represses this much it's because they were betrayed by a loved one. That's what we were whispering about. You weren't really on time with your reanimation, and it's because something's eating you from the inside."

Anna doesn't say anything, just folds her arms and looks down at her feet.

"I think — I think your boyfriend did it, Anna. And unless there's just a lot you don't know, I'm pretty sure you're avoiding telling me a lot of important details. There has to be a reason he was the first one investigated, and a reason the first thing you remembered was that Kristoff was suspicious of him."

Anna wipes tears from her eyes. "It's not clear, but I don't think he killed me. I can't explain it."

"Maybe you're just… maybe it's just too hard to believe."

Anna holds out her arms a bit helplessly and Elsa jumps up to hug her. "I don't know how this helps me go. It feels wrong, like… It doesn't feel right, Els." She presses her face into Elsa's shoulder. "I think maybe, I don't think it was Hans."

Elsa tightens her grip on Anna and kisses her hair. "It's alright, it doesn't have to be him. We'll figure it out."

"No," Anna says softly. "I mean, I don't think Hans killed me, but I know he was there."

"He was there when you died?"

"Yes," Anna nods. "He was there, but. I'm not entirely sure if he was trying to save me or… he just watched me die." She sobs and her whole body shakes as she twists her hands in Elsa's shirt. "Why would he just watch?"'

"I'm guessing you'd have a better idea than I do?"

Anna shakes her head, sniffing loudly and pushing in closer to Elsa. "I don't know, I really don't know. We were in love."

Elsa places kisses all over her forehead until she manages to calm down a little. "Hey, hey. Hans isn't going anywhere, alright? So as long as you make up your mind that you'll stay with us a little while longer, we have time. We don't have to figure it all out in one night. That sound fair?"

"Yes, I'd like that," Anna says, pulling back to look Elsa in the eyes. "Can we do more puzzles like the first night? It helped my brain become a little more clear."

"Sure thing," Elsa says, "And then maybe we'll do some really low energy exercises to get your blood flowing more?"

Anna nods. "Sounds good."


	3. Three

**A/N:** Should be one chapter left after this one.

 **Warnings:** [Sadness, Depression, Crying, Murder (Detailed), Drunkenness]. This chapter is less fluffy than the first two, and I don't generally write angsty shit, so you know, it's probably shittier. But this part's important.

* * *

Mal comes back a day later and she looks more exhausted than Elsa's ever seen her before. It's weird because Elsa's spent more than half a week with Anna and she's still being constantly surprised by how complex this case is turning out to be.

"So, spill it," she says to Mal, while Anna's curled up in her blankets and sleeping in front of the fire place. Elsa's keeping a close eye on her just in case there's a fire issue, because burning a soul is almost a sure-fire way to create a poltergeist. "What'd you find out?"

"I scryed Anna, the boyfriend, and Kristoff," Mal responds, slipping off her shoes as she sinks into the couch, rubbing her feet. She looks up, though, when she catches Elsa staring at her. "What? Had to do a lot of ground work — catching college students isn't a cakewalk. Anyway, which do you want first?"

"Anna."

"Okay. Well she's alright, but a little nauseous, I think. Something like nauseous. And she's really hurting about something, mentally, but it's a big mysterious wall. It's pretty much like she has it so blocked that she can't even figure it out herself. But there's also a lot of love running through her; not quite sure what the context of it is, but she's pulling through pretty strong right now. She's stubborn, but it's working for her. Whatever you used to bind her was good. Generally, she's doing pretty well, considering."

"Alright," Elsa says, rubbing her hands on her pants. Wasn't much she hadn't already figured out herself, but she's glad Anna's doing okay. "Thanks for checking in on her, didn't know you were doing that. So, the boyfriend?"

Mal sighs for a long time and avoids looking Elsa in the eyes for a bit. "He's all fucked up," she says.

"Guilty?"

"Not quite. He's torn about something. Part of him feels bad about a thing he did, but the other part feels justified. His…" she pauses like she's stuck on her words, and it gives Elsa a bad feeling. "His aura's all wrong, Els. At least for what we suspected. Like, he's a shitty person, yeah, but he's not a murderer. Isn't quite capable of that — at the moment at least. He misses her. A lot."

"Of course he misses her," Elsa snaps. "Who wouldn't miss her? You telling me this shit stain is actually innocent?"

"Yes and no. It didn't make much sense until after I scryed Kristoff. Probably should have opened with that," Mal admits. "He's all torn up about some altercation he had with Hans. The timing puts it the day of Anna's suspected murder." Mal takes in a long breath, looking over at Anna by the fire place. "If I had to put all the pieces together I'd say Kristoff confronted Hans about his relationship with Anna, and Hans went to her apartment looking for a fight. When he got there, he probably found the door open and the place trashed — "

"And he found Anna bloody in the bathtub and just left her there," Elsa finishes quietly, talking more to herself than anyone else. "And I'm guessing she was still alive when he left."

Mal nods. "I don't know who exactly killed Anna, but it wasn't Hans, and it wasn't Kristoff. I think her murderer is less important right now, though, because she's most likely fighting with the fact that her boyfriend left her to die in a bathtub."

"That's fucked up," Elsa whispers. She looks up. "You know, I think she's figuring it out, or maybe she has it figured out already. She was telling me she didn't think Hans killed her, but he watched or something. It makes sense now."

"You want to hear the kicker?" Mal asks, and Elsa's almost tempted to say no, but she nods anyway. "She was completely in love with Hans. Sure, he was a possessive dirtbag that had her pretty fooled, but she loved him more than anything. Kristoff — I think his intentions were good, but all he did was stir up unprecedented jealousy in Hans and now Anna's dead when it could have been avoided. She died because two idiots wanted to decide her life for her. Or, because someone stabbed her, you know."

Elsa swallows around the lump in her throat. She really wants to cry because Anna doesn't deserve any of this, but she knows she's getting too attached. Especially since it looks like they're going to have to let Anna go soon.

"Anyway, I'm going to take a nap," Mal says. "My head's killing me. And… I know you've spent quite a bit of time with her, so take it easy giving her the news. For the sake of both of you."

"Okay," Elsa says, "you're probably right. For some reason I thought I'd have more time."

"You know how the magic council feels about these things."

Elsa sighs. "Yeah, I know."

She waits for Mal to disappear up the stairs for a while before she goes over and wakes Anna. "Hey, you feeling alright?"

"Yeah," Anna says sleepily, smiling big and warm.

Elsa has no intention of breaking the news to her right now. "Come sleep on the couch with me?" she asks, tilting her head. "You being so close to the fire is scaring me, so I'd rather keep you warm myself."

"Sounds good to me," Anna says, following Elsa onto the couch and curling up against her side under her favorite blankets. "Thanks for keeping me warm all the time, by the way. It's nice."

"It's not a problem at all," Elsa says, wrapping an arm around her.

"Am I getting too much to take care of?" Anna asks unexpectedly. "I don't want to overstay my welcome or anything… I don't want to make you unhappy."

Elsa's heart skips a beat and she has to pull Anna closer. "How many times do I have to tell you that you can stay here until you're good and ready to go?"

"I know but, I figured that's something you have to say. I just don't want you to get tired of me."

"I could never get tired of you, Anna. So, just. Don't ever think that, okay?"

"Okay, then." Anna goes back to sleep after that, and Elsa has to fight between tears and anger as she stares at the ceiling because Anna didn't deserve to die and she shouldn't have to go back. Elsa just wants to keep her here forever, or at least figure out how some bastard could be so heartless that he let her bleed out alone in a bathtub.

Before she can even convince herself otherwise, she's sneaking from underneath Anna and heading out the door to see Hans. Because _someone_ needs to confront him for what he's done.

xx

She doesn't have much of a plan, so when Elsa ends up outside Hans' door she's mostly running on hot air and fumes. She can't fuck this up, though. She needs answers for herself and for Anna; even risked leaving Anna in the house and having her wake up scared and alone.

She can't think about that, though, because it'll make her just want to drive back and right now she has to stay strong.

She's not exactly prepared when Hans opens the door, so she says the first thing that comes to her mind. "Hi, I'm a writer for a local online newspaper, and was wondering if you'd like to answer a few questions about the death of your girlfriend?"

Hans is wearing a tight t-shirt that shows off how muscular he is, and everything about him just screams money. Elsa already hates every inch of him. "Yeah sure," he says after a few seconds. "Come in, then."

His apartment is spotless, and generally unremarkable, but Elsa compliments the furniture anyway and then asks if he has anything to drink. She's really just taking her time getting to the point, but she needs to be careful about how she jumps into this. Once she's had a few sips of tea, she decides on just asking general questions and pretending to take notes on her phone.

She goes over how they met, how long they knew each other, and what it was like finding out about the tragedy, before setting her phone aside and clearing her throat.

"This is off the record," she says, "but… I'm just wondering why you think the police investigated you first?"

"I'm the boyfriend," Hans shrugs. "Had to knock me off the list, I guess."

"But it was so obviously a robbery," Elsa comments. She looks around Hans' apartment as if to make a point. "And it's not like you'd need to steal anything from her."

"Like I said," Hans says, "they just needed to take me off the list."

"So, it has nothing to do with you finding her alive in her apartment and then leaving her to die?"

Hans hesitates for a long time, and that's how Elsa knows for sure it's true. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he finally recovers with, "I wasn't anywhere near her apartment when she died."

"Yeah, and I'm quite sure your brother could vouch for you," she snaps. "But I fucking know you found her and let her die. You know it too."

Hans presses his lips together and folds his arms defensively. "It's not true," he sticks with, and then, "And so what if i did, anyway? I didn't fucking kill her. It wasn't me! I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"But why?" Elsa shouts.

Hans slaps his hand against the wall in anger, his face bright red. "Just leave. I've had enough of this shit already. Why the fuck are you even here?"

Elsa only shouts, "Why?" again; it's all she has left.

"Go. Why are you here?" Hans repeats, but it's weaker this time. He obviously can't handle the pressure, so Elsa just keeps it up.

"She was so good to you," she says, desperately trying to stay in control of her own feelings, but failing terribly. It's taking all she has to not start crying. "She loved you. She loved you so so much."

Hans breaks; he actually breaks, tears falling from his eyes and everything, which Elsa absolutely did not expect. He leans his forehead against the wall and punches it. "I don't know. I don't fucking know. It was like, what's the point in saving her if she's just going to leave anyway? But I miss her," he whispers, almost to himself, "I really fucking miss her."

He turns toward Elsa, suddenly more threatening than he seemed a minute ago. "You've got two seconds to get the fuck out of here," he says, jaw clenched. "And if you write any of that — "

"I already know what you're capable of," Elsa cuts him off, grabbing her phone and running for the door. She doesn't notice how hard she's shaking until she gets in her car and drops her keys trying to start it.

She just stares at her steering wheel for a good five minutes then, and then she cries. She cries until she can't breathe anymore and her eyes feel heavy and tired.

Then she drives to the bar.

xx

Elsa doesn't like drinking, mostly because being drunk and able to lift the dead aren't exactly a remarkable combination. She's also never really liked the way drinking makes her feel, but fuck if she doesn't need a shot right now. And maybe a couple beers and a large plate of nachos.

So she takes a shot, and has half a beer, because she realizes it's not responsible of her to get drunk. Not when she has to take care of Anna. Not when she has another person depending on her. Not when she has a job to do that's more important than her dumb fucking feelings.

So she leaves the bar worse off than she enters. But there will be plenty of time for drinking, she supposes, since Anna's not going to be around much longer and she's decided on giving up lifting the dead forever. No one needs this. This hasn't been good for any of the parties involved, and she can't stomach causing more heartache to more innocent souls.

xx

When she gets home, Mal's sitting on the couch with Anna on the floor between her legs. She's putting her hair in pigtails, and Anna's smiling at Elsa like seeing her is the best thing in the world.

"I pooped today," she informs her, grinning, "and I took a shower. Mal says Tiana would be proud of me since those are both big steps for reanimated… _beings_."

"They really are," Elsa says, smiling back a bit weakly. Mal catches on that something's up and she eyes her suspiciously. Elsa just ignores it. "When you're done with Mal there, me and you need to talk alone, Anna. Okay?"

"Is everything alright? Mal said you were probably out gathering more information."

"Everything's gonna be fine, cupcake," Elsa says, and feels with every part of her being that it's a lie. But maybe if she's says it enough and believes it enough, it'll actually be true.

Mal finishes up the pigtails and then sends Anna off to the kitchen on a mission to figure out how to make her own tea. Which is really just a ploy to get Elsa alone. "Maybe not tonight, Elsa," she reasons. "We could wait another day or two and… I don't know. She's probably not ready to hear and you're not… you're just not ready."

"The longer we keep her here, the worse it is for her," Elsa says dryly. "And I, for one, don't want to be a part of the growing number of people that just exist to make her life shitty." She pulls off her cardigan and places it on the back of the couch chair before turning back to Mal. "So, please. Just go to bed and let me handle this."

Mal just nods. There's really no argument she can give since Elsa's technically right. She walks off, and Anna comes back into the living area five minutes later and sits on the couch across from Elsa.

"Something's wrong, I know it. So don't lie to me about whatever it is," she says.

Elsa looks down at her hands and twists her fingers together. This is maybe the hardest talk she's ever had to have with a soul. "I'm pretty sure I know what happened to you, and I think… I think maybe you were starting to figure it out yourself."

Anna places her cup of tea on the table, and then she asks, her voice trembling, "How are you sure you know?" She pauses, then, "You went to see Hans, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I had to be _sure_ -sure." Elsa's voice is barely a whisper, but the room is so quiet now that it doesn't matter anyway. She doesn't even have to look at Anna's face to know she's starting to cry.

"I guess he's definitely a part of it then. I don't understand, Elsa," Anna says shaking her head. "I feel like I know what happened, but it doesn't make sense."

Elsa clenches her jaw and wills herself to look Anna in the eyes. "He's a lying, manipulative, jerk-face asshole. He's charming and cute and he knows all the right things to say. That's why it doesn't make sense, Anna. It wasn't supposed to. You're smart, and beautiful, and perfect, and — "

"And I'm too dumb to figure out when someone isn't good for me," Anna says, squeezing her eyes shut.

There are tears starting to fall down Anna's face, and Elsa can't help but to think about her circulation and how pink her cheeks are and how healthy she looks. She's even sleeping now and doing puzzles and exercising. She even poops and makes her own tea and she's so fucking _alive_ , that it's absolutely overwhelming thinking about the fact that Elsa's supposed to just let her… die again.

Elsa can't handle this anymore; she hops from her chair and glides over to sit next to Anna on the couch, pulling her into a hug. "That's not your fault, baby. He's just really good at being shitty, and he took advantage of you."

"You don't get it," Anna says, crying into her shoulder, her voice so strained that it's making Elsa's heart break into a thousand pieces. "I trusted him. He was everything."

"It's not your fault. How could you know he'd do something that selfish? Honestly?"

Anna's silent for so long after that, that Elsa's nearly startled when she finally does speak. Her voice is so soft, it sounds like might break at any moment.

"I was so scared, Elsa. I heard the door open and I just… I hid in the shower, and I prayed that no one would look in there. Like they would just take what they wanted and go. But the guy… " Anna sniffs, and Elsa can't even imagine what it must be like reliving your worst nightmare — the one where you actually die in the end. " …he found me, Elsa. When Hans came I was so happy. I was so so so so so happy. I tried… I asked him to help me, but he just closed the shower curtain and he never came back."

Anna looks up and Elsa's never seen her so broken, which doesn't help anything at all. "I don't wanna go back, Els. I don't wanna go back to being dead. I'm too afraid. Why can't I just stay here? You said your magic wasn't strong enough, but it _is_."

"That's not it, Anna. It's just — the magic council is strict about these things. Sort of like a physics law… what comes up, must go back down, and preferably in a timely manner."

"We don't have to tell them," Anna reasons. "We could just keep it to ourselves. I look more alive every day; they'll never notice."

"This is what they do, babe," Elsa says, rubbing Anna's shoulder. "They'll take one look at you and know for sure."

"So what? What can they do?"

"They can banish you, Anna. They can ban me forever, I — " Elsa pauses. It's hard to explain, but. "This is sort of my whole life. It's my friends and — well, really, they're like family now. It's just, we follow the rules because it keeps everything in order. Look, I know what happened is shitty, and even I don't want you to go back, but — "

"I have to," Anna finishes, pulling away from Elsa a bit and sighing. "I get it. I don't wanna fuck you over."

Elsa crumples, she can't take anymore punches. "It's not like that, Anna. Don't say it that way. This isn't about you fucking me over. It's just, there's a natural order to things and it's really important when it comes to magic." She moves her hand over and places it on top of Anna's. "I can give you one more day, though. Mal agrees you should get one more, as well. We at least owe you that."

"Alright," Anna says, nodding. "It's probably best if we get some sleep, then."

xx

Tonight they don't sleep on the couch or in front of the fireplace; they actually end up in Mal's guest room in a bed. Anna excuses herself to the bathroom, and when she returns she's not wearing her charm bracelet anymore. Elsa wants to mention it, but it doesn't feel right to.

Anna's prepared to release tonight and it's maybe best for the both of them that they just let it happen.

Anna climbs in the bed and scoots in close to Elsa, so that Elsa's spooning her. "Thanks for all the time and energy and… _care_ you put into me these past few days," she says. "Being dead, it's really easy to remember that no one's around to love you anymore, but with you it's — it didn't feel that way."

"I only ever wanted you to be happy, right from the start."

"I know," Anna says, pressing in closer to Elsa. And she's so warm, Elsa's almost addicted to it, wants to bury her face in Anna's neck and just stay there forever. "I think what you do is really important, and I don't want to be the case that fucks it all up for you."

That statement just rubs Elsa the wrong way for a number of reasons. "You're not just a case to me," she starts with, "and honestly, if you staying alive only came with a repercussion of me not being able to take on any new cases, I'd take that deal in a heartbeat. But there's so much more to consider here and — basically life just isn't fucking fair."

"Maybe life isn't fair, but death hasn't been that bad," Anna laughs. "I mean, I met you after all."

It's not perfect; nothing about this is perfect. But hearing that is almost enough, because at the end of the day Elsa gave this her all. She learned all sorts of new shit about magic, and confronted potential murderers, and nurtured a soul practically back to life. The only thing she wants from this is to know that it was all worth it, to know that Anna can release peacefully.

So she waits until she's sure Anna's fallen asleep, and then she tells her she loves her, because this time Anna's definitely leaving, and Elsa's just praying that it's on good terms.


End file.
